Empire of Shadows

Entering the night, a burst of concentrated gunfire came from the direction of the harbor. Lance, who was half-asleep, scrambled up and rushed to the window, peering towards the harbor.

The pitch-black road was barely illuminated by the dim yellow light, and some scattered rats occasionally peeked out from the sewers.

The gunfire lasted for about seven or eight minutes, followed by the wailing of many police sirens heading towards the harbor.

It seemed something big had happened at the harbor, and the midnight shootout left him feeling somewhat uneasy.

This caused him to finally drift off to sleep in the late night, in a daze.

At seven o'clock in the morning, the alarm clock jolted him awake, and he couldn't help but marvel at the resilience of his young body.

He hardly slept in the night, only three hours, yet he woke up full of energy.

After getting up from the ground, he tidied up the blanket on the floor, then walked over to the sink outside the bakery.

The night had passed, and the apprentice was also there. He took a cup and filled it with water from the boiler and began brushing his teeth with a toothbrush.

Federation people were conflicted.

Everyone knew the importance of protecting their teeth, yet not everyone was truly committed to the cause.

He haphazardly scrubbed a few times. The toothpaste didn't even froth up before he rinsed his mouth, considering his teeth cleaned.

There were even mouthwashes on the market for those who superficially cared about dental health but were too lazy to actually brush their teeth.

They claim that just swishing it in your mouth is even more effective than brushing your teeth.

As to whether it's true, opinions vary.

The customers who came to the bakery in the morning were all discussing the intense gunfire from last night. "Today's Golden Port" had published last night's events on the newspaper –

"Smuggling boat and Coast Patrol Team exchange fierce gunfire, causing multiple police casualties."

Front page headline, bold and blackened.

The photograph was of a smuggling boat that had been dragged ashore, riddled with bullet holes. Since the newspaper was black and white, some spots might have been blood, or might not have been.

The boat looked as if it had been battered by a bullet storm.

"…After receiving a tip-off, a smuggling boat from the East Ocean attempted to approach the port in the middle of the night, and the Coast Patrol Team promptly organized a capture operation."

"During the process of capture, the smugglers and boat operators, unwilling to be arrested, armed themselves with firearms and fiercely resisted, causing injuries and deaths to many police officers…"

The other customers in the bakery all gasped, even the fat owner and his daughter exclaimed, "Oh my God!"

The guy reading the newspaper had a delighted smile on his face; people who enjoyed showing off were like that, indifferent to someone else's death as long as it didn't obstruct their moment in the limelight.

He continued reading, "After over ten minutes of fighting, they finally joined forces with the city police and eliminated the group of extremely vicious stowaways."

"But this has led to, so far, four police officers sacrificing their lives, with many more in the midst of being rescued."

The guy finished reading and flicked the newspaper with his finger, "Their firepower must have been fierce, let's hope those officers being rescued receive divine favor."

"These smuggling boats are truly despicable. Not only do they bring us rats, fleas, cockroaches, but also hordes of stowaways."

"If you ask me, Congress should legislate; the death penalty ought to be used against these people."

Many people supported these remarks, with the supporters all being local residents.

The locals enjoyed the benefits brought to the city's construction by the undocumented immigrants, while laying on the economic wonder built on the skeletons of others, they harshly criticized the contributors.

This was much like the middle and upper classes' view of the lower class—a bunch of maggots unwilling to make an effort, content to rot in the muck!

Some of the undocumented workers in the bakery quickly left, not fond of the atmosphere.

The fat owner also joined in with the cursing, glancing at Lance while he did it, as if he was cursing at him.

In the afternoon, some rumors surfaced, suggesting that a total of eleven officers had died, nine from the Coast Patrol Team and the remaining two from the local police.

The people on the smuggling boat were not ordinary stowaways; they were from the Empire and possessed a multitude of weapons, possibly belonging to some small arms group.

Without a doubt, such dangerous people would not do anything good after coming to the Federation—becoming gang members, or ruthless bandits, were their limited choices.

Fortunately, the city's guardian angels had eliminated these stowaways, defending the peace of the city and safeguarding the safety of people's property and lives.

But Lance felt that this might not be the end of it.

In the afternoon, he went to find Elvin, and the fact that the fat owner was going to deduct a yuan from him didn't really bother him at all.

"Be especially careful recently, and it would be best if you stick together," Lance warned.

Under Ethan and Elvin's boasting, alongside other young people from the Empire, their group, as well as the favors Lance had done to aid Ethan, had begun to circulate within a small area.

Some other youngsters from the Empire, who didn't travel with them or weren't on the same ship, were also eager to join them.

After Lance's approval, they had been accepted.

Lance memorized the faces of the twenty-something people now in their ranks.

Elvin, who had become the core of the group, stood to Lance's left. "What's that got to do with us?"

Lance struggled to explain, "There is an upcoming election, and the President plans to use the support of illegal immigrants to secure votes, but natives of the Federation aren't too friendly towards us."

"With over a dozen officers dead, this might be one of the gravest incidents in recent years; it's inevitable that some people will use this to stir up public opinion."

"Once a wave of xenophobia takes hold, we'll be in great danger."

"You all should know, even if someone attacks us first, if we dare fight back, even in self-defense, the police will make trouble for us."

"The docks are complicated, stick together, and you'll be safer."

Many people don't understand the terrifying aspect of "movements"; they can make a closed society suddenly accept new things, but they can also twist the correct.

There have been many historical instances of manipulating situations through "movements", where the outcome may not be immediately clear, but the process is undoubtedly bloody.

The chess players sitting at the side of the board always look pristine, and it's challenging for people to realize the bloodshed and cruelty on the board itself.

Elvin was a bit skeptical, "Aren't we being too sensitive?"

"I don't think it's about being sensitive. Anything that's connected to our lives, anything at all, is worth being vigilant about," Lance insisted.

After explaining these issues, Lance left. As he did, he saw that there were already many people gathered around the beached ship riddled with bullet holes.

A few youngsters were waving their fists and yelling something.

By the next day, even the "Federation Daily" had reported the incident, and its impact was far from trivial.

As the economic engine of the Federation, anything that happened in Golden Port City would spread nationwide.

Such a vicious case had alerted the President's Mansion and Congress. Although the bigwigs hadn't started gaming around this event yet, there was already a shift in attitude.

What was even more incomprehensible was the reaction of the Emperor; condemning the murders of Imperial Citizens by Federation people as a provocation to the Empire, he demanded that the Federation Government hand over the culprits and compensate for all losses.

Otherwise, he threatened to declare war on the Federation.

When this news broke, most people treated it as a joke.

The Emperor had already been driven out of Imperial City by the rebel armies. If it weren't for the fact that he still had some military forces and a few nobles supporting him, he might as well have started a government in exile.

How dare he threaten the Federation with war, under such circumstances?

Nearly all Federation people thought the Emperor was out of his mind, likely with issues, and started disliking him intensely.

Stunned, Lance could not help but be bemused by the news, but he quickly realized that the Emperor was attempting to shift the focus of internal conflicts.

If he truly declared war on behalf of the Empire against the Federation, the ongoing civil war in the Empire might cease under outside pressure.

The rebel army, supported by the populace, if not stopping, could easily be branded as "the Federation's lackeys" with a little manipulation, thus being despised by the strongly nationalistic Imperial people.

In an instant, they'd go from noble rebels to treacherous forces, losing both their moral high ground and public support; the Royal Family would soon regain control.

And if they ceased fighting, then, as the current legitimate rulers of the Empire, the Royal Family could regroup their power through the prospect of war.

It might be a joke to the Federation people, but to the Royal Family, the Emperor himself, and high-level politicians worldwide, it was a devious plot!

Lance, who initially hadn't felt an urgent need to settle down, started feeling a shift in his intentions.

In fact, he hadn't been in a hurry. Upon finding a suitable opportunity, leaving would just be a matter of decision.

But now, it wasn't about whether he had a suitable opportunity anymore, but that he had to change his identity as soon as possible.

What was initially a minor issue was, under various influences, moving towards a direction unimaginable and unpredictable to ordinary people.

By the third day, there were already protesters at the port holding signs that read "Go Back to the Empire", and outside the Coast Patrol Team's duty office were nine empty coffins, each carrying a black and white photo of a fallen officer, surrounded by heaps of flowers and small gifts. Without much instigation, a wave of emotions kindled by public opinion was already surfacing.

This was a very dangerous sign!